Addict chased woman and tried to steal car keys

AN addict chased a woman and prised her fingers open in an attempt to snatch her car keys - leaving her crippled with fear as to what Jonathon Whitworth might do to her.

- By ESTHER HALLIGAN

Jonathon Whitworth

The woman had been walking her dogs in Saltburn and was getting back into her car on Milton Street, on June 7, when Whitworth, 38, confronted her, Teesside Crown Court heard.

He demanded her car keys and tried to pull her fingers back to take them. The woman screamed for help, but Tabitha Buck, prosecuting, told the court that no one stopped. She ran away from her car, and Whitworth chased her.

He pushed her up against a car, but quickly left when a member of the public intervened. The victim later told the police that she “has never felt fear like it”. In a statement, the woman said she was still shaking after the passerby helped her; and that she is scared to return to Saltburn. She said she didn’t eat for a week after the attempted robbery.